


then I see you, you're walking 'cross the campus, cruel professor, studying romances

by Huntchaser



Series: Fuck You Trans Stamets and Pike AU [2]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Genre: Academy Era, Awkward Crush, Fluff, Leland is gay and pining for Pike, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Starfleet Academy, They're ex-husbands in canon convince me otherwise. Might as well write shmoopy pre-canon, Trans Character, Trans Christopher Pike, here comes the disco command gang, mentions of patrochilles, yeah im bringing classical gays into this shut UP i can do what i want its my fic, yeah leland has the biggest fucking crush and he's so bad at hiding it shut up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27987888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntchaser/pseuds/Huntchaser
Summary: Leland and Pike academy era fluff featuring a classics lecture and an Andorian professor
Relationships: Leland/Christopher Pike
Series: Fuck You Trans Stamets and Pike AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049765
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	then I see you, you're walking 'cross the campus, cruel professor, studying romances

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dianano](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianano/gifts), [Kakushigo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kakushigo/gifts).



> Never thought I'd be writing Piland in 2020 but here we are I blame my friends for this. I'm a sucker for "oh my god they're exes" so obviously writing when they're still together was the next logical step. But I took it a step further from that and wrote before they got together and when they were crushing on each other.  
> \---  
> Title from and fic inspired by Campus by Vampire Weekend.

An alarm, it’s not the first thing he wants to hear in the morning, but it’s what Lucas Leland hears. His blanket must have fallen off during the middle of the night because he’s shivering, his shoulders are cold. Who knew leaving your window open during the middle of the night in San Francisco could get so cold? He looked up at the clock, groaning as he slapped the alarm off and pushed himself out of bed. Oh seven hundred, time to go for a jog. He picked up a crumpled shirt from off the floor and slipped it over his head, grumbling to himself as he dragged his feet as he was still waking up. 

Leland put his earbuds on and slipped his communicator into his pocket, rubbing his eyes as he started to pick up a pace. The view of the bay was always good, the city was still shrouded in the marine layer of fog that rolled in every morning, that sometimes didn’t even leave. He headed down to the beach trails, just enjoying his morning routine and the smell of sea salt hitting his nose. After about thirty minutes, Leland stopped and stared out over the bay, taking in a breath. The bay stretched out into the ocean before him, it was a strange thing to see considering he’d grown up away from the ocean, from any large bodies of water really, but he enjoyed it. The crashing of the waves was calming in a way he wasn’t used to but he always missed it when he was away at home. 

Time to head back to the academy, he had a full day’s worth of classes to do today. Including his least favorite, Federation classical literature. Of course, Starfleet wanted well-rounded officers, he understood that, but he hated classics and the professor was no help. He was awful, a tall Andorian man with a white goatee and round glasses that he would peer over when any student said something that he thought was wrong. Leland hated the guy and the romance-filled classics, but what could he do, he needed the class for his command training requirements. 

It was oh eight hundred by the time he got back to the academy, the sun was more into the sky and the fog was starting to burn off a little. He’d headed back to his dorm and took a quick shower, ditching the rumpled tank top and running shorts for a pressed gray academy cadet uniform. He zipped up the front as he was leaving his room, tossing his backpack over his shoulder. Oh nine hundred, he was right on time to the start of his day. He grabbed kefir and a bagel at the cafeteria before starting towards the lecture hall where he’d have his first class in. 

Ahead of him getting into the lecture hall, he’d noticed a tall lanky boy, one with a lot of acne, more than most. He’d seen the guy around the academy a few times, especially across the main quad where he’d been hanging out. Cadet Christopher Richard Pike, he’d introduced himself to Leland one time after Leland had spilled his kefir all over his clean uniform. He’d been so embarrassed and apologetic but Pike had just apologized and said he was still getting used to his body. They’d gone out for lunch after that and Chris explained he’d recently had an operation that had thrown off his center of balance and he was more clumsy than usual, not to mention the acne he’d had all over the place from his hormone therapy. They’d both decided to forget the incident had happened and Leland had always gotten a lid on kefir since not to mention developing a pretty major crush. 

Leland gently nudged Chris as he sat down next to him, grinning a bit. “Hey, Pike. How’s life?”

“Leland, hey,” Pike had said, laughing and leaning back in his chair. “I hate this professor, that’s how life is.”

“Oh?” Leland raised an eyebrow and smiled at Pike. “Why’s that?”

Pike just chuckled again and Leland melted inside for a moment, even with the voice cracks and awkward movements, Chris always managed to be cute. “Stayed up too late last night reading his stupid book. Ill-fated romances always get me, make me cry. Especially when it’s gay.” The cadet chuckled, drawling his words a bit. That had explained the dragging of his feet earlier, Leland thought, Chris was tired. 

Leland just shrugged. “Join me for my after class nap then. Those old stone balconies are the perfect spot for a nap.” A playful grin was on his face, the grin of someone who was trying to get the attention of a crush. 

“I’ll take a rain check on that,” Chris said, pulling his PADD out of his backpack and setting it on the table. “I would, but I have a study session with Una, you know her, yeah?” 

“Una… Una… Yeah, I think so? You two study in the quad all the time with Lorca, Cornwell, and Georgiou right?” Leland said, trying not to act like he’d watched Chris and his friends from his prime napping spot a few times. He didn’t want to act all awkward around Chris and his friends, so he figured it was better to keep his distance for now. 

“Mhm. You should join us sometime. You and Lorca can talk about battle strategies.” Chris flashed that stupid, charismatic grin right back at Leland. 

That smile had sent a shot straight through his heart, a blush threatening to rise in his cheeks. “Dunno if I could keep up with him, he’s a tactical genius.” Leland brushed him off as casually as he could, trying to hide the lump in his throat.

Chris laughed and gently put a hand on Leland’s shoulder.  _ Oh, fuck was Leland gay and crushing hard. _ “You’ll do fine, just throw him something sneaky and you’ll catch him off guard.”

“Ah well--” 

“Cadet Leland. Cadet Pike. Do you two have something you want to share with the class about last night’s reading?” The Andorian officer in front of them raised an eyebrow, glaring at them over his round glasses. 

Chris turned right to the professor and spoke. “Sir, Cadet Leland and I were just talking about how Achilles and Patroclus are narrative foils and even though Patroclus is a major player in the Illiad, he barely speaks.” The man lit up with a bright smile, almost as if he was trying to impress the instructor. 

“Hm.” The Andorian shook his head and turned back to the large screen behind him, dimming the lights in the room. “As Cadet Pike said…” He started with his lecture and Leland let out a sigh of relief before he heard a chuckle from Pike beside him. 

“What’s so funny?” Leland whispered in a hushed toned to Pike, who was hiding a smile behind his coffee cup. 

Pike finished the sip of his coffee and set the cup on the table, a glint in his eye as he spoke to Leland. “You stiffened up like a board. Never met a command student afraid of being the center of attention.”

“I work better in the shadows, okay?” Leland mumbled, his blush would have been obvious if not for the darkness of the room. “Not a fan of the spotlight.” 

Chris chuckled and nodded. “Mhm. Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sure you’ll make it work.” He flashed that bright smile again that made Leland melt a bit before turning back to his PADD, taking noted on the lecture the instructor was giving. 

Leland flushed dark for a moment before shaking his head and snapping back into focus, taking his notes for the lecture and only occasionally looking over to Pike, who always seemed to catch his eye and flash a grin at him. By the time the lecture had ended, Leland had blushed no less than 5 more times because of Pike’s grins. As he was slipping his PADD back into his backpack, he’d noticed Chris had gotten up to go speak with the professor and waved at him as he left, going to find his nap spot. 

Leland swung left out of the lecture hall and into a service staircase, climbing up to the top and on to the roof of the academy building, settling on one of the stone balconies. No one ever came up here, usually, it was a forbidden area but no one had caught him up here so he wasn’t worried about it. He stretched out and pulled out his PADD, going over his notes from the lecture in the warm afternoon sun. 

Then some movement had caught his eye down in the quad, he could see the familiar group of Pike, Georgiou, Lorca, Una, and Cornwell on the large grassy area of the quad, chatting and studying. He envied the other three cadets for being such close friends with Pike for a moment, wondering if he’d ever have a chance to sit with them and chat as a friend, or even as Chris’ boyfriend. He leaned back and sighed loudly, staring up at the blue skies and letting the sun’s warmth wash over his face. 

He could push the emotions away and focus on his studies, forget about the crush on his fellow cadet completely. But really, how could he pretend he never wanted to see Pike again? The man was basically sunshine, warm and addictive, he wanted to soak up his presence and just bask in it. One of these days he was sure he’d ask Pike out but for now, he would just nap and think on the classics lecture, even if he hated it.

Then, before Leland knew it, he was asleep, dreaming of kissing Cadet Christopher Richard Pike on the rooftop balconies of Starfleet Academy. 


End file.
